How to strop your razor right!

When I think about stopping, I picture an old man going to town with the blade. Moving the blade along the strop quickly with a lot of weight. I don’t know why I have this picture in my mind, perhaps it’s in the way stropping has been portrayed in the movies.

Thankfully, when I purchased my first straight razor a couple years ago, I took the time to watch some videos on how to properly strop your blade.

As it turns out, it’s not about how fast you do it at all. It’s about getting the motions right, ensuring the entire blade is being sharpened, with mostly the weight of the razor for pressure.

How often and how many strokes?

This is going to depend on how often you shave. If you’re using your blade for maintaining cheek and neck lines, you can get away with 2-3 shaves before you hit the strop again. If you’re fully shaving daily, then strop daily. Anywhere from 25-40 strokes is a good number on a leather strop.

For those like myself who like visual aids, here is a nice video I found that helped me get it right: